The surprising sadness of not watching Dynamite

Until November 2023, I had watched every single televised AEW match and pay per view since the return of CM Punk. 

But no longer.

Overwhelmed by the volume of AEW TV to keep up with and underwhelmed by the quality of the shows, I have now decided to pick and choose what I watch. 

Deciding to not watch every minute of a television show shouldn’t have such an emotional impact on a person, but it has on me.

It feels like the end of an era. 

I know I’m being overly dramatic, but I do feel a sense of mourning for a time now past. 

Like growing apart from a childhood friend and finally realising you are now two very different people from when you first met. 

And that’s okay, that’s fine, these things happen. You don’t hate them, there’s just a level of indifference there that wasn’t there before. And that’s sad. But it’s life. 

You can still remember all the great times you had together, no one can take those away. 

And when you meet up again, now just a few times a year, you’ll have a great time, it will be loads of fun. Just like old times. 

But you know in your heart of hearts that it just won’t work seeing each other multiple times a week. 

If you did, then their flaws would begin to show. The annoying parts of them that you can handle in small doses a few times a year become magnified. Their “unique” sense of humour suddenly becomes unbearable. 

I’m not holding my breath that AEW will finish the salmon run any time soon. But times have changed.

This isn’t the first time this has happened for me and AEW. I used to review Rampage weekly once upon a time. 

In the beginning it was basically the exclusive home to see CM Punk. It had lots of top guys there, the matches were strong. It was exciting and fresh. The fastest one hour wrestling you could get.

But over time it felt less important and more disappointing, until eventually I decided it wasn’t worth my time writing about it anymore. 

It’s funny that, instead of AEW being disappointing leading me to write less about wrestling,  now it being disappointing might mean I write more about wrestling. 

I will always have the memories of watching Dynamite and being blown away by the quality of matches they put out on free TV. No other weekly TV show has ever, or perhaps will ever, compare to the quality of absolute bangers that AEW was churning out. No one can take that away from them or from me. 

They say “this too shall pass” but that applies to the good times too. 

But times have changed.

I’m hopeful that eventually the AEW I once knew will return, like a salmon battling upstream to lay its eggs after spending its life out in the vast ocean. But I’m not holding my breath that AEW will finish the salmon run any time soon.

It's a reminder to us all, how fleeting things in life can be. Try to recognise when you are living through “The Good Times” and enjoy each moment while you can, because someday soon you’ll be wishing you were back here. They say “this too shall pass” but that applies to the good times too.